


Rome, Season 1, Episode 5, The Ram has Touched the Wall

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: Rome (TV 2005)
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s01e05 The Ram has Touched the Wall, Meta, Nonfiction, Season/Series 01, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24889387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and the rest of the series. Complete.





	Rome, Season 1, Episode 5, The Ram has Touched the Wall

Open to awkward silence in the Pompeian camp. Finally, Pompey starts dictating a letter to Caesar with everyone chiming in with how to best word it. Cato and Cicero reiterate their belief Caesar is a tyrant.

Despite Cicero’s protests, Pompey refuses to meet with Caesar. Cato goes on about the humiliation and unmanliness of surrendering, and Pompey snaps this isn’t surrender, it’s gaining time.

He goes outside.

The scene goes over to Caesar’s camp. Caesar is being shaven as he and Posca talk. A man has abandoned Pompey, and Caesar plans on showing mercy and sending some money. Posca objects.

Caesar mentions showing such mercy will get him a throne, and Posca immediately pounces on his word choice. “Poetic license,” Caesar quickly says. “Nothing else.”

Posca says Atia has again invited Caesar to dinner. Refusing, Caesar instructs Posca to give no excuse.

In Rome, the newsreader reads about the truce offered.

Somewhere, Pullo is drunkenly wandering about.

At the Julii house, the O siblings are doing something. I’m not sure what, but it appears innocent. Showing himself capable of being happy, Octavian smilingly declares of whatever he and Octavia are doing, “It’s rather fun.”

Sitting down, Atia says the slave told her about him and Caesar supposedly having sex, and she’s thrilled her prepubescent son and a middle-aged man were involved in such activities. She says some people might consider it indecent due to them being related by blood, but she considers this a moot point.

We’ll see if her stance on consensual incest is the same in a few episodes.

When he continues protesting, she declares a good lover is a discreet one, relishes in the power this will give them, and gives him some advice. He finally reveals Caesar was suffering from a terrible affliction. Then, remembering his promise, he clams up.

Max Pirkis was about 16 when this first aired, but not only did he look like he was around 10-12, he was extremely good at playing a precocious pre-teen. These facts make this scene and several others later in the series rather uncomfortable to watch. No matter what era something is set in, some modern viewers just can’t accept certain things. To me, watching a mother taking joy in her child supposedly being the victim of paedophilia and encouraging him to accept and be happy with such abuse leaves a bad taste.

She leaves, and her slave tells her Caesar isn’t coming for dinner.

At the Vorenii complex, Vorena E carries the baby past the steps Pullo is sleeping on.

I can only assume this scene was put in just in case there was further proof needed he was Vorenus’s puppy. I just hope Vorenus and Niobe fix a warm place for him to sleep during the winter and give him the Ancient Rome equivalent of a flea collar.

Inside, Vorenus tells his daughter she and the baby will go live with her husband soon. Vorena E is excited, but Niobe tries to protest. However, with two-against-one, she agrees.

Appearing, Pullo politely asks for some water.

“Sit down,” Vorenus orders.

Fussing about how Pullo should be in camp, he insists Pullo eat some bread. Declaring camp is boring, Pullo refuses the bread. He says he isn’t feeling too good. Vorenus attributes this to Pullo’s excessive drinking.

Pullo blames some bad oysters he ate. Then, he realises he left Eirene somewhere.

Well, if he can’t keep track of a flesh-and-blood human, I hope Vorenus doesn’t spend any money on toys for him. Or put him on guard duty for the children.

He rushes out, and the scene transitions to Vorenus following him. Vorenus earns some points from me when he gives a random man some money. Then, it being this show, he says Pullo can buy another slave and that Pullo can’t take her with him when camp leaves.

Pullo suggests, like Vorenus, he won’t go. Vorenus declares Pullo has no talent for peace.

Whether Vorenus realises it or not, neither does he.

“I can’t just leave her,” Pullo desperately insists.

“You think with your penis,” Vorenus says.

When Pullo says he hasn’t touched Eirene, Vorenus asks what her purpose is, then. Pullo claims he just finds her presence calming.

They find her, and the man holding her refuses to hand her over without payment. Vorenus gives him the money, and outside, Pullo promises to pay him back. Vorenus makes clear both his scepticism and the fact he’s not bothered by his lack of belief. “So, what will you do with her?”

The next scene has Vorenus trying to understand why, after all her talk of wanting a slave, Niobe’s refusing to accept Eirene. She claims it’s because Eirene has strange eyes, and Vorenus manages not to offend me when he declares, “You drive me insane.”

Pullo follows, and the two women look at one another.

Later, Niobe’s neighbour says, “Keep calm, sweetie. Keep calm.”

Niobe believes Pullo is using Eirene to spy on her. She’s afraid he knows about Evander and the baby. The neighbour reassures her, if he did, he’d have already told Vorenus.

The thing is, usually, she’d be right. Pullo isn’t one for keeping things to himself. Everything important he knows, he has to share it with someone.

He tells Vorenus about his mother being a slave, and as someone else pointed, this out would have disqualified him from joining the army unless he managed to present himself as an orphan of unknown parentage. When Pullo has a kid, Vorenus knows about it. He went straight to Vorenus when he got the gold.

The difference here is he realises he can’t go to Vorenus. So, he goes to someone else. Aside from knowing how much it would hurt Vorenus, he absolutely adores the baby and has a fondness for both the girls and Niobe.

The next scene contains Caesar, Antony, and Posca. Antony is impressed with how Caesar is getting everything he wants. Caesar wants a way to reject the treaty. Posca and Antony have different thoughts on this.

Namely, Antony’s all for it. Posca, on the other hand, uses reasonable arguments to back up his objections. However, despite their respective positions, Posca’s the actual helpful one who finds the reason Caesar can use: Pompey’s refusal to meet face-to-face.

Happy, Antony is ready to go after Pompey right away, but Caesar tells him to be patient.

At the market, Vorenus is shown the corpses of his dead slaves. The only survivor is a wounded boy. The slaves died of dysentery, and if it weren’t for the fact humans were being talked of, I’d be impressed with the merchant’s explanation he left the corpses, despite the smell, to prove he hadn’t done Vorenus wrong. It’s established Vorenus still has to pay the man for feeding the slaves.

Vorenus starts to lead the boy home. Then, getting impatient with his slowness, he roughly picks him up.

Once there, the girls automatically coo over him. Vorena E decides to name him after her dead pigeon. Niobe wants to know what they’re going to do for money, and Vorenus assures her he’ll think of something.

Meanwhile, Caesar and Servilia play some sort of game. It quickly takes a sexual turn. She expresses how much she missed him, and he promises he never truly left her.

At the Juliis, Antony is complaining to a quiet Atia about Servilia keeping Caesar from fighting.

Admittedly, though not making him sympathetic, this does give Antony some complexity. Unlike Pullo, he either has a house or knows Caesar would easily get him one, but instead, he’s staying at his girlfriend’s. For all my talk of him having sociopathic and psychopathic tendencies, he displays a clear emotional need for support and companionship when finding himself out of his element.

There’s a shot of Servilia and Caesar sleeping.

The next day, Atia is complaining to Octavian. He doesn’t see why it matters who Caesar is sleeping with. She calls him as simple as milk, and I really like the look on Octavian’s face at this comment. Changing the subject, she reveals she’s hired Pullo to teach him the masculine arts. Octavian would prefer to be left alone with his books.

Outside, Pullo is trying to teach Octavian sword fighting with shields and wooden swords, but Octavian is completely non-athletic. He and Pullo disagree on whether being a middling swordsman or no swordsman at all is better with him taking the stance of the latter. At one point, Pullo happily clasps him on the shoulder, and Octavian orders him not to do so.

I know some people simply don’t like to be touched, but Octavian’s aversion to it combined with Atia’s approach to sex as a tool of manipulation and way to gain power and assert dominance over others makes me wonder if he, with or without her knowledge, might have been sexually abused in the past.

Pullo tentatively asks if he can ask Octavian’s advice. Octavian agrees. Pullo asks what to do if there’s suspicion an unnamed man is being cheated on. Quickly realising Vorenus is the subject of the conversation, Octavian suggests Pullo not say anything without proof due to the fact, whether Pullo is right or not, Vorenus will still be dishonoured by the suggestion of such things.

Meanwhile, Pompey receives a letter, and the man who delivered it kneels after he hands it to Pompey. Reading it, Pompey wonders aloud what to do since Caesar has refused a truce. Then, he goes on about how great slaves have it due to them not having to make decisions.

Over at a spa, Vorenus greets Erastes. He brings up hearing Erastes has friends in the money lending business. Confirming he does, Erastes expresses surprise Vorenus has a need. Explaining about the slaves, Vorenus lays out his plans to buy more slaves to start his business with.

Erastes sighs. “I cannot. Wrong to lead a citizen like yourself down that path.” He explains money lending can be a rough business, and people who can’t pay suffer. He compares introducing Vorenus to a moneylender as putting two wolves in a cage.

Vorenus isn’t happy, but he respects the argument Erastes is making. Thanking him, he starts to leave, but Erastes offers him a job as a bodyguard.

In the next scene, Pullo watches Lyde slap Evander before storming off.

During the night, graffiti depicting Caesar and Servilia is produced.

The next day, helping Vorenus dress, Niobe encourages him about his new job.

Meanwhile, Caesar, Posca, and Cornelia go through town with the latter being carried on a cot liter. They soon notice the graffiti, and everyone laughs at the couple.

It seems the people would be trying to hide the graffiti and stifle their laughs. Caesar is supposedly beloved by the common people. Even if this is intended to show he’s not, then, wouldn’t the common people be scared to upset him?

Back at home, Cornelia tells Caesar not to trouble himself with denial, and he answers, “I did not intend to.” She says to get rid of Servilia, and they won’t speak of it anymore. He tries to protest, but she makes it clear she’ll divorce him if he doesn’t.

After she leaves, Posca points out how much a divorce would hurt right now due to how influential her family is.

Obviously, it’s not influential enough to keep people from openly jeering and calling out inappropriate things to her.

Elsewhere, Vorenus meets Erastes. They start to walk, and Vorenus asks why they aren’t going to the forum. Erastes explains the forum is where deals are closed, not necessarily made.

They meet to a Hindu man. He and Erastes argue over the diseased pigs Erastes sold him and his lack of payment. Erastes attacks.

I like Vorenus’s jerky movements here. His instinct is to protect the other man, but his job is to protect to Erastes.

Erastes gets the upper hand, and he demands Vorenus break the man’s arm. Hesitating, Vorenus does it. Next, Erastes demands Vorenus cut the man’s throat. He moves to do it, but this the line. He quietly leaves.

At home, Niobe tries to get him to open up. He explains about Erastes asking him to kill a man. She soothingly agrees he did the right thing.

Then, she brings up the rent and feeding the children.

These concerns are legitimate, but I do think she should have waited until Vorenus had a little time to deal with what’s happened to bring them up.

Next, Caesar comes to Servilia to break up with her.

I have many objections to this scene.

Aside from a man twice backhanding a crying woman, this strikes me as out-of-character for Caesar. It was done to give Servilia a concrete, sympathetic reason to turn against him, but it’s at the expense of his character.

For one thing, I think he’d be more likely to hit Cornelia if he were the type to do such things, and I don’t believe he is the type to do such things. For another, there are better ways to turn her against him.

The scene transitions to Atia laughing, and Octavia wonders if one of her little plans has come through. Atia assures her this isn’t the case.

Meanwhile, Caesar is getting ready to move, and Antony is happy right up until Caesar declares he’s been assigned to remain and keep the peace with Posca.

I don’t know if he’s figured out Antony was indirectly responsible for this or if his bout of hitting a woman has made him lose his strategy, but either way, this is doing a great disservice to the people of Rome. At least, Vorenus and Pullo, who are both barely able to function during times of peace, do have protective instincts.

Antony himself points out how counterproductive this is with, “I’m a soldier, not a peacekeeper.”

Angrily insisting, Caesar leaves.

At the Pompeian camp, Pompey is pacing around.

Sitting together, Cicero and Brutus talk.

To me, at first, this scene came out of nowhere. However, later episodes make up for the lack of earlier establishment and show a genuine affection between the two.

Bringing up a farm he has nearby, Cicero says he’s considering going to it. He invites Brutus to come along. Brutus politely declines. Cicero points out no good will come out of staying, and Brutus simply says out the sea air is bracing. Cicero decides, if Brutus doesn’t go, he can’t.

Bringing up Brutus’s great family name, he makes a jibe about how he (Cicero) has to keep his own well-polished. Seeing Brutus’s silent reaction, a flash of guilt crosses his face. They look at where Pompey is quietly sitting.

There’s a shot of the legion and Caesar marching.

Next, there’s a shot of Servilia lying depressed in bed as her slave watches in concern.

At Antony’s outpost, Vorenus yells at a soldier for whistling whilst on duty, and Posca immediately appears.

I’m willing to bet Antony purposely made Vorenus wait until he came close to snapping.

Inside the tent, after Antony is done deliberately ignoring him, Vorenus says he’s reconsidered rejoining the 13th. Antony continues to needle Vorenus throughout the scene. Finally, he agrees to let Vorenus rejoin but lowers the amount of money promised.

Antony says he expects loyalty under death, and Vorenus agrees. Relived he now has someone who might actually be able to help him in this position he’s completely unequipped to handle or to, at least, hopefully keep him from irrevocably screwing up, Antony kisses Vorenus on the cheek. With his hand gentle on the back of Vorenus’s head, Antony pulls him forward to briefly rest his chin on Vorenus’s shoulder.

Withdrawing, he says, “Welcome home,” before dismissing Vorenus.

At the Junii house, some slaves bring in one of the graffiti artists. Servilia’s personal slave explains he was hired by Timon.

“Atia’s man,” Servilia hisses. Hopping out of bed, she orders, “Dress me.”

There’s another shot of Caesar and the legion riding.

At the Vorenii complex, Vorenus informs Niobe the army took him back. “I sold myself to a tyrant.”

Softly thanking him, she puts her head on his shoulder.

The clock/calendar thing is changed, and the next shot is of Vorenus in military garb walking through the street. He eventually stops at a temple.

There are intercutting scenes.

Servilia is praying to the deities of vengeance. She places a curse on Caesar.

Vorenus is in the temple.

Servilia places a curse on the Julii family.

Atia is lying down, Octavian walks past her, and Octavia is sitting on the floor.

It’s briefly back to Servilia.

Then, Octavian leaves to meet Pullo outside.

Servilia finishes her ritual.

Evander is kidnapped.

Servilia’s slave takes the parchment Servilia was marking to insert it into a wall.

In a sewer, Pullo demands to know what’s going on between Evander and Niobe. Evander repeatedly swears nothing is. He insists he and Lyde had a fight, he went to Niobe for advice, and she was simply commiserating with him. Pullo thinks he might be telling the truth, but Octavian keeps insisting, “Lying.”

Withdrawing his dagger, Pullo says, “He says you’re lying, and I believe him. This boy is clever like you don’t know what.”

Meanwhile, Servilia’s slave inserts more parchment in another wall.

Back in the sewer, Octavian declares they know he’s lying and must kill him. Evander insists he never touched Niobe. Octavian responds, “Evander, move forward. Your life is over. The only question is: How do you want to die? We need to hear the truth. If you persist in lying to us, we’ll torture you.”

Octavian is clever, and he’s right. However, I wish I knew what made him so sure of Evander and Niobe having an affair. This is never explained. He just somehow knows the truth.

Evander refuses to answer, and Octavian orders Pullo to torture him. Pullo comments on how salty Octavian is. “And I was worried about bringing you.” Then, he admits, “I’ve never actually tortured anyone. I don’t know how.”

Octavian suggests they start with cutting off Evander’s thumbs.

“Niobe and I were lovers! I confess it!”

Angry, Pullo automatically starts to attack, but his soldier instincts restrain him when Octavian orders, “Hold.” Octavian knows there’s something else, but Evander refuses to talk. Pullo cuts off Evander’s thumbs.

There’s a shot of Vorenus still in the temple.

In the sewer, Evander confesses baby Lucius is his. He begs for death.

“Lucius? Vorena’s son?” Pullo asks.

“Niobe’s son. My son,” Evander answers.

Killing him, Pullo dumps the body in the water.

Back in the temple, a priest smears blood on Vorenus’s face.

In the sewer, Pullo and Octavian climb out, and they both agree Vorenus must never know.

Vorenus’s ceremony ends, and he starts to walk out.

The scene transitions to Caesar and his men riding. They stop, and Caesar’s told the Pompeian camp has sailed for Greece.

The last shot is of the ocean.

Fin.


End file.
